Lando Norris won his first drivers' title in his seventh season, ending the four-year reign of Max Verstappen as champion. The season was largely dominated by McLaren drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri, and reigning Drivers' Champion Verstappen, driving for Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT. All three were in contention for the World Drivers' Championship going into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Norris in the championship lead. Norris's third-place finish in the season finale was enough to win the title. Defending champion Verstappen won the race, allowing him to finish within two points of Norris in the championship. Piastri, who had led the championship for 15 rounds, finished the season in third, 13 points behind Norris. Norris became the 35th driver overall to claim the World Drivers' Championship, and the eighth to do so driving for McLaren. At the Singapore Grand Prix, defending Constructors' Champions McLaren successfully retained their Constructors' title, moving them second on the all-time list with ten titles ahead of Williams. It was the first time they had secured both the Drivers' and Constructors' titles since 1998.
All teams competed with tyres supplied by Pirelli. Each team was required to enter at least two drivers, one for each of the two mandatory cars. RB discontinued its use of initialism and entered instead as Racing Bulls, thus changing its team and constructor name.
Lewis Hamilton left Mercedes after twelve seasons to join Ferrari, ending his record-breaking streak of the most consecutive seasons driving for a single constructor. He replaced Carlos Sainz Jr., who left Ferrari after four seasons to join Williams. Hamilton was replaced by Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli, who was promoted from Formula 2. Haas fielded an all-new line-up in 2025; Nico Hülkenberg departed the team to drive for Sauber, replaced by Oliver Bearman. Kevin Magnussen also departed Haas, replaced by Esteban Ocon, who split from Alpine. Jack Doohan obtained the seat at Alpine for 2025. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu both left Sauber after three years, moving to reserve driver roles. The vacant seat alongside Hülkenberg was filled by reigning Formula 2 Champion Gabriel Bortoleto. Sergio Pérez left Red Bull Racing after the conclusion of the 2024 season, replaced by Liam Lawson. Red Bull Racing reserve and 2024 Formula 2 runner-up Isack Hadjar was promoted to Racing Bulls in his place.
Following the Chinese Grand Prix, Liam Lawson was demoted to Racing Bulls, with Yuki Tsunoda making his debut for Red Bull Racing at the subsequent Japanese Grand Prix. Following the Miami Grand Prix, Jack Doohan was relegated to a reserve driver role for Alpine. His seat was given to former reserve driver Franco Colapinto on a "rotating seat" basis, with Colapinto retaining the seat for the entire season.
The 2025 calendar comprised the same twenty-four Grands Prix as the previous season. The Australian Grand Prix hosted the opening race for the first time since 2019. The Chinese, Miami, Belgian, United States, São Paulo and Qatar Grands Prix featured the sprint format.
Technical regulations saw the minimum driver weight allowance increase from 80 kilograms to 82 kilograms, and the overall minimum weight limit of the car, excluding fuel, rose from 798 kilograms to 800 kilograms. A driver cooling kit was introduced for 2025, mandated by the FIA when the temperature was forecast to exceed 30.5 °C. The limit on the number of gearboxes teams can use throughout a season was removed. Stricter rear wing deflection tests were introduced, and additional front wing tests were implemented. Sporting regulations abolished the point awarded for setting the fastest lap in the race. Drivers' comments were subject to more stringent regulation and stricter punishment. The requirement for teams to run a young driver during free practice sessions was increased from once to twice per season per car. Limitations were introduced on "testing of previous cars" (TPC). A new regulation was introduced to prevent severely damaged cars from attempting to return to the pits. Starting procedures were amended, including specific provisions for setting the starting grid if qualifying sessions were cancelled, and drivers starting from the pit lane were now required to take part in the formation lap. The rules surrounding tyres and safety car starts for wet races were tweaked. A minimum two-stop strategy was implemented for the Monaco Grand Prix in an effort to promote better racing. A limit of 25 laps was introduced for each set of tyres at the Qatar Grand Prix.
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